All Those Shadows
by pasadisu
Summary: When she saw her clothes in a pile beside a skull mask, she screamed.
1. Oops

**A/N**

Hey, friends!

Whhhaaaaat, another RavenxRedX story? Why, yes, yes it is. Was looking for a good RaexX story, you know, one where they end up together (insert ugly crying here), and since I was unable to find one, figured I'd play around with this idea that had been tickling my brain.

 _Burning Daylight_ is definitely my main focus, though, so this story won't be as regularly updated; just kinda dumped when I need a break!

Still, I hope you guys like it!

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1\. Oops

"No time for better words, no time to unsay anything."

CS Lewis, _'Til We Have Faces_

When Raven woke up by sunlight, she furrowed her brows.

When she sat up, naked, in a room that wasn't hers, she panicked.

When she saw her clothes in a pile beside a skull mask, she screamed.

A potted plant in the corner exploded, waking up the criminal beside her — who then shrieked.

—

"Oh shit."

"What the fuck."

"Ooohhh, shiiiitt."

"What the _fuck_."

Raven turned away from him, pressing the blanket against her chest. She held her pulsing head in her hands. Each throb pulled unnecessary memories –– gasping touches, roaming mouths, soft moans…

 _Oh, Azar, why?_

"Oh, my god," he groaned, and she remembered that he had said that phrase a few times last night. She felt her body warm; the back of her neck turned red.

Of all the people. Of all the criminals –– well, at least he was human, so she couldn't complain, but _still_ , with _Red-X_? She couldn't have at least done it with Aqualad? It had to be a thief?

How did it get to this?

Raven glanced at him. He was laying in the bed, an arm thrown over his eyes. The blankets were pulled in her direction as she was trying to cover up, meaning that his toned and scarred torso was exposed.

"Let's just go back to sleep," he said suddenly.

"…What?"

He moved his arm; she noted that he had pretty green eyes.

"Let's just go back to sleep," he repeated, and despite the second time around, Raven still didn't have anything important to contribute. She stared at him, one brow raised in annoyance, or confusion, or maybe both.

"You're joking, right?" she deadpanned.

"Look," he started, sitting up. "We've already fucked up. Twice, from what I can remember."

She felt herself turn red; another potted plant burst to her embarrassment. He pretended not to notice.

"Thrice," she coughed.

He blinked, and then there was a grin. "Alright, three fuck-ups. So. You know what I look like, I know what you look like; we've slept with the enemy, all that good stuff."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

"I'm just saying that, since it's already happened, why don't we just…you know…worry about it later."

Raven wasn't convinced, despite his rather charming smile. "…Later…?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "At a more, ah, _appropriate_ time."

It took everything not to stare at him with a gaping mouth. He really was the most reckless and nonchalant criminal she had ever met — not that she had met very many in those specific circumstances. Red-X was smiling cheekily at her. She ran a hand through her hair and groaned.

"Raven, come on," he urged. "It's 9 AM on a _Sunday_ ," as if the day of the week made it any different. " Let's go back to sleep, and we'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow."

Her response was immediate: "Ugh." So was his laughter.

Was she _really_ even _actually_ contemplating his ridiculous and _stupid_ idea?

 _Maybe._ She bit her bottom lip.

Red-X reached out and gripped her waist, nudging the blankets from her hands.

"We're going to regret this," she said, shaking her head.

"Those are always the best stories," he murmured. He leaned forward and kissed her neck.

* * *

 **A/N**

Welp! There you have it!

I really, in all honestly, don't know where the heck this is gonna go, haha. Shouldn't be too long nor too dramatic, though. Hope you stick around (:


	2. Toast, Tea, and Texts

**A/N** : HI.

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2\. Toast, Tea, and Texts

"Luck is not as random as you think.

Before that lottery ticket won the jackpot, someone had to buy it."

― Vera Nazarian, _The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration_

"Where did you go last night?"

Raven glanced at Robin as she stirred honey into her tea. She discretely exhaled, controlling the invading warmth on the back of her neck.

"Nowhere," she answered, putting back her tea supplies into the cabinet.

Robin's head tilted in slight suspicion, but she paid it no mind. As long as she acted like nothing was out of place, then everything would stay hidden in their respective dark corners.

"Raven…" he started, lowering his voice, though it wasn't out of hostility. Robin glanced to the two goons sitting on the couch, cackling and shouting obscenities as they battled each other in the newest game they had picked up. "Raven, you literally just got back an hour ago," he said softly.

Years of meditation kept her from tensing her shoulders and clenching her pale, slender fingers around the warm mug. He must've been training on the rooftop; she had been an idiot not to have seen.

Slowly, she exhaled through her nostrils, keeping her back to him, her stirring hand steady.

She didn't know how to reply, thinking that there wasn't any good excuse she could make. She was seen coming back at 1 PM; there wasn't anything reasonable other than what was the most obvious.

She cleared her throat and then turned around to look at him briefly, her lips pressed together stubbornly, secretively, almost seductively.

He furrowed his brows, and she shrugged, heading for the exit without giving any answers.

With the tea in her hands, Raven phased through the walls to reach her room more quickly, not interested in seeing anyone else.

Appearing in her room, she climbed into her bed, moving her table closer with her powers to have a place to set her cup. She looked over at the small library in the corner and had several books levitating to her side.

There was a flash of memory then: waking up briefly to his whistling, the smell of smoothly rich coffee, the sound of thin pages turning on the cool windowsill beneath bright green leaves. She had rolled over then, deeper beneath oversized blankets.

He paused to chuckle, and she remembered grumbling a _shut up_ before falling back to sleep. It wasn't trust, what she felt at that moment, nor was it a slowly growing affinity — but there was a silence, a warmth, not a stillness, but an unspokenness, a muteness, almost as if she had headphones on, the colors dulled and graying temporarily as she slept, as though the world had wanted to muffle itself for her dreams.

It had been a good sleep.

She realized then that she had been sitting on her bed with her tea cooling and an unopened book in her lap for the last twenty minutes.

Raven snorted, clearing her head and opening the pages to a fantasy world, diving in to forget strange one-night stands.

* * *

The next time Raven looked up, she had finished the book and there was a storm murmuring outside. Her stomach growled in response to a wafting smell, but she shivered at the thought of which of the Titans was cooking. Robin didn't often cook for the group, Starfire always had weird spices and ingredients hidden in her room that she brought down to share, and Cyborg and Beast Boy warred in the kitchen more often than they cooked (those days, she usually had a piece of toast and more tea, as the kitchen was too much of a mess to actually make anything more).

Stepping into their living quarters, she saw that it was Beast Boy and Cyborg's kitchen conflicts that day, much to her chagrin.

 _Toast and tea it is_ , she thought, taking a seat at the counter. Over their yelling and tofu throwing ––

"Stop it! That's food!"

"It's _trash_ , B! Dogs wouldn't eat that shit, and they _eat_ their _own_ shit!"

— she used her powers to maneuver bread into the toaster and to pull out the honey-butter off the top-shelf of the cabinet (top-shelf because she didn't want Beast Boy or Starfire to use it in their cooking experimentations).

As Raven brewed herself another batch of tea, she looked over to the two in the kitchen, still throwing tofu back and forth, and then to Starfire and Robin giving each other awkward smiles from across the room.

And then there was a loud buzz from her pocket. Everyone paused.

She was visibly tense.

"Uh, Rae?" Beast Boy began. "…Was that you?"

Was it her? Why? How? What?

She hadn't felt anything all day. How could she have not felt a _phone_ in her pants' pocket?

But wait, thoughts for another time — all of her friends were staring at her curiously, as no one really had any need for a phone considering they all communicated via their titan devices.

That, and the fact that they didn't have anyone else to talk to, other than each other.

"Raven…?"

Starfire's voice pulled her back, and she realized that she had been sitting in silence, not responding.

She cleared her throat, quickly spread the honey-butter on the toast, and levitated both her small meal and mug behind her as she left the room, her footsteps echoing painfully awkwardly behind her.

The moment she disappeared from their view, a light above her exploded and she pressed against the wall in secrecy, irritation, and surprise.

"Who the hell?" she grumbled, pulling out the small phone from her butt pocket — how had she never noticed?

 _Morning._

There was a weird churning in her stomach. The name was listed as Red.

It was him. It had to be him.

That smug faced Red-X.

How did he know she would be too lazy to change out of her clothes?

The door suddenly opened from around the corner; voices drifted toward her, and in a panic she used her powers and enveloped herself in shadows, teleporting back to her room. The mug settled itself onto the table and the toast into her free hand.

When, and why, and…?

She furrowed her brows.

This wasn't the etiquette of one-night stands.

She took a bite of her sandwich, sitting on the edge of her bed, not used to thinking about things other than fighting and friends and fictional characters she wished she could talk to.

Did the dating scene change without her noticing? Did one-night stands suddenly consist of…whatever this was? What was this? Was this anything at all? Was he just fucking with her?

The phone buzzed again.

 _So…you still sleeping or…_

Raven blinked, feeling somewhere between confused and annoyed.

 _Or are you ignoring me?_

Would he stop messaging her if she just ignored him?

"What the hell do you want?" she asked aloud.

 _Answer me, damn._

She frowned.

 _I know you're awake._

 _I can see you…just sitting in your room._

She swore aloud and stood up, looking to the window and expecting a skull face staring back at her in the rain and shadows, but then the phone buzzed again and she looked down and her eye twitched.

 _Just kidding._

She chucked the phone behind her and finished her bread and tea. On the large ledge of her window, she tried to open a new book and start another adventure, but over the uncomfortable quiet, she heard the phone buzz again.

* * *

 **A/N:** Life's hectic on my end. Trying to graduate, friends, but thanks for sticking around! I'm still alive!

See y'all soon (: Drop a message if you enjoyed!


	3. Regrets

**A/N**

Friends, I have graduated university with my bachelor's degree. Fucking exciting!

For those of you struggling, hang in there. The light at the end of the tunnel is closer than it seems!

Time passed by so fast. I'm not interested in dropping any of the stories. Here's an update, and expect one for Burning Daylight soon, too. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for the patience!

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3\. Regrets

"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."

― Arthur Miller, _The Ride Down Mt. Morgan_

She had told herself that it was important to ignore the phone, but then another part of her reminded her of the possibility of crushing it and throwing it away — and then there was that last part of her that said, _go on, keep reading_. She listened to the last one instead.

 _Morning, sunshine._

 _Hey, blue-bird._

 _When's the next time you coming through?_

 _Raven._

 _Any particular reason you're not responding?_

 _Ravvennn._

 _I mean, is a phone call better?_

 _Good night._

 _Raven!_

 _So, you need took at this pic. Haha!_

It had been going on like that for the last three days. Her teammates had obviously noticed how glued she was to her new phone, but she had yet to answer (to him or her friends). He didn't bombard her with text messages every minute of the day — it was just enough, enough to keep her interested, to keep her looking to her phone, waiting for the next funny picture or random image of his feet propped on desks and chairs beside cups of coffee. The majority of his messages, however, were ridiculous things designed to pull a response from her.

One time she almost smiled. Almost. But she was in control of her emotions, and a smile over a text message was unnecessary, so she didn't (but it was close, too close).

She glanced down at her phone at another buzz.

 _There's a buy-one-get-one-free going on at Lucy's Cafe._

From the corner of her eye, she saw Cyborg staring at her curiously, but she slipped the phone back in between her legs and returned to her book.

Another buzz. Seconds passed and she couldn't resist the urge; she pulled it out and unlocked it.

 _You in?_

 _Psst!_

 _They sell tea, too._

Raven scoffed aloud. As if the lack of tea was the reason why she wasn't responding to his invite.

Cyborg cleared his throat suddenly. Raven looked up and caught his glance, and she suddenly felt embarrassed, like some idiotic school girl who couldn't go through the day without constantly looking at a screen; but then she caught the way his eyes flickered behind her. She finally noticed the footsteps, and then slipped the phone beneath her thigh right as the door to the living room opened.

Raven quickly returned to her book and Cyborg un-paused his game and continued the onslaught of fire and bombs on some obscure city. The rest of their crew came in, and immediately the living room exploded in loud chatter and laughter.

"Who's doing dinner tonight?" Robin asked.

"Oh!" Starfire exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Oh, please, I would love to do the dinner. I have found some very exciting recipes from the Google that I believe we shall all enjoy."

There was a shared grimace when Starfire ran to rustle through the kitchen cabinets.

"Uh, do the recipes have anything to do with mustard…?" Beast Boy asked.

Starfire smiled and chirped, "Yes!"

There was a cringing silence as everyone stifled a groan to spare the alien's feelings.

Three sets of eyes turned to the leader to break the news: no one was interested in diarrhea that night.

"Maybe we should all just eat out," Robin offered, and Starfire's face fell for a split second before he suggested her favorite restaurant, a strange Mexican and Mediterranean fusion eatery that was sure to go bankrupt within the next six months. Still, even that was better than the alternative.

The phone beneath her thigh vibrated. Raven felt the strong urge to check what he sent her, and Cyborg must have noticed because he looked at her, curiously confused.

She didn't know what to do other than shrug and avert her gaze at his brotherly stare.

As if Red-X had known the situation she was in, the phone buzzed several more times, and then it began a continuous vibration, signifying a phone call.

 _You've got to be kidding me._

Three days of random texts and he decided now, of all time, to randomly call her? He had threatened it a couple of times, sure, but she had thought they were just jokes.

 _Whatever_ , she thought, telling herself that she wouldn't pick it up — but it kept buzzing and Cyborg kept staring and the others were talking and laughing, unaware of the dilemma happening right beneath their noses: that, after having a one night stand with the number one thief on Robin's list, she was reading his flirty text messages and now receiving phone calls.

Phone calls that she wouldn't answer, but still.

Raven slipped the phone in between the pages of her book and quietly excused herself.

Out in the hall, she pulled out the device and saw the missed call from Red-X.

What did he want?

She opened the last message he sent her.

 _Noon tomorrow. Lucy's Cafe on the corner of Westheimer and Langston._

 _Don't be a square, yeah?_

She snorted.

The text after that was a picture of a black hair tie and eight bobby pins gathered on what looked to be the coffee table in his living room.

 _One night with you and this is what happens._

Raven felt her lip curl into an annoyed scowl. She had been looking for that hair tie — it had been her last one. Also, five of those bobby pins were definitely not hers.

 _You're gonna come back and get them, right?_

At that moment, she received an incoming call from him.

Her stomach dropped when she realized that her thumb was lingering over the answer button. There was a weird feeling that she was going to open pandora's box with this decision — but she answered and held it to her ear.

"Hello?" She kept her voice steady and monotonous, no changes whatsoever to her usual demeanor. There was silence the other side, and then shuffling, and then the loud click of a phone hanging up.

Did he just…?

He hung up on her.

He _hung up_ on her.

 _He hung up on her._

Veins throbbed in her head; her left eye twitched, and then four light bulbs shattered above her just as she phased into the wall, teleporting herself to her room before she could do more damage to the tower.

Raven chunked her phone against the bed, seething; her face was warming, and several books began to levitate in response. She felt the window begin to bend, cracking under the pressure of her power; she closed her eyes and retreated into her breathing practices.

It was whatever, she thought to herself. Why did she care that he called her? Why did she care that he hung up the instant she answered? Raven didn't care; that was the bottom line. She folded her arms, her temper under control and not caring whatsoever.

Nope. It wasn't at all important to her, not at all.

But she was going to call back and bitch him out anyways.

The phone levitated back to her and she dialed the number again; this time, when she heard the unmistakable click of the other line connecting, his voice answered her.

"Uh, hello?"

At his confusion, she felt her irritation spike — the glass cracked. What was his end game? What the hell was he trying to do? Was he or wasn't he trying to ask her out?

— _But_ it was whatever.

Right. Whatever.

Raven breathed in, reminding herself to be nonchalant, to be disengaged and detached. There were no stakes on this relationship (term used as loosely as possible), so she didn't care what he had to say.

"What the hell?" she asked (as nonchalantly as she could, which seemed to border more on the annoyed side).

"…What?" She heard the amusement in his voice, which only made her angrier. Any mantra of _whatever_ or disengagement was quickly falling off to the side.

"Why'd you call me and not say anything when I answered?"

"I didn't call you."

"Yes. You did."

"Huh…"

She heard him shuffle and click some things on his phone, his breathing far from the mouthpiece for a few seconds before returning.

"Oh, that was a butt call," he explained.

Now it was her turn for confusion.

"A what?" she deadpanned.

"Yeah, my butt must've dialed you on accident. Phone was in my back pocket."

Silence.

Things like that actually happened?

"Twice?" she asked.

"Guess so," he said. She could hear the shoulder shrug.

"So…" he started, snickering softly beneath his breath. "…Does this mean you prefer calls over texting?"

Immediately, Raven regretted everything.

"Should I start calling you instead?"

She hung up.


	4. Citrus Scents

**A/N:**

Hello, my friends.

Thank you for the love last chapter, and all the patience. Your support and reviews make me happy, like a unicorn on starbucks, heh.

Here's the next chapter.

* * *

4\. Citrus Scents

"If it weren't for her, there would never have been an empty space, or the need to fill it."

—Nicole Krause, _The History of Love_

Raven looked at her reflection in the bakery store across the street from Lucy's Cafe. She wore jeans and a plain gray t-shirt. Earlier that morning, there had been a strong urge to grab a jacket or a hoodie, but it was 87 degrees in Jump City, and she knew she'd only end up irritated and taking it out on others.

She reached up to flatten her hair. She felt very unlike herself.

When the pedestrian light turned green, Raven followed the crowd across the street, eyes glued to the cafe name etched in a pretty design on the windows. It loomed closer, like a bad horror film, but she told herself not to be stupid, not to be afraid.

Without hesitating, she opened the door and the bell chimed, signaling her entrance –– and she saw that he was all smiles, all teeth, one dimple. He was hard to overlook, and several of the giggling waitresses thought the same.

Raven averted her gaze, taking slow steps to the table, but the first quick eye contact was all that was needed: she recorded every detail, every small freckle and strand of black hair that had broken away from the styling. In front of him was a white cup of coffee; small designs of flowers decorated the side of the mug, delicate and dainty in comparison to his large hands.

She remembered the warmth of his fingers then, pressed lightly against her side, as they had slept.

Raven took a seat. He leaned forward; she inhaled sharply. The excitement in the air tasted like cinnamon.

"How'd you sneak out?" he asked.

"Front door," she said, and at the tilt of his head, she continued, "I go where I please."

"Ah," he said.

She resisted the cliché of awkwardly rubbing her arm.

The waitress stopped by, a girl with fine brown hair in a high ponytail, and asked for Raven's drink.

He said, "Herbal tea," the same time she did, and the waitress in turn smiled too brightly and widely before disappearing.

"Good guess," she muttered.

"It was my second choice," he said honestly. "I was banking on oolong tea."

She glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Silence settled in between them, a stark difference to the laughter and enthusiastic buzz of conversation around them. Even when the tea arrived, nothing more was ordered (though a menu was kept), and the two quietly sipped on their drink.

She couldn't help but analyze at him from the corner of her eye.

There was a half smile on his face as he looked out the window, the cup warming his hands. Now that she was closer, she could see they were less freckles and more like sun spots.

"I had doubts that you were going to come," he said abruptly, and she averted her gaze as nonchalantly as possible, as if she hadn't been staring at him for the last five minutes.

Raven brought the mug to her lips. "Why's that?" she asked before sipping.

"Isn't the leash a little tight?" he remarked.

She narrowed her eyes. "Not as tight as my hands will be around your throat," she mused darkly.

The light that lit up in his eyes was infectious and sincere.

"Ooh, _kinky_."

"Ugh!"

But she had walked into that one, she knew.

"So, tell me," he began before the silence could once again settle between them. "Why didn't you throw away the phone?"

Raven stiffened, surprised that he was so straightforward, though it was something she should've expected. He hadn't seemed like the type to beat around the bush. She wondered if not replying was an appropriate response, but his curious stare told her otherwise.

She didn't know how to respond, what the correct answer was.

She looked down into the tea, her fingers slowly tapping against the mug.

"Why did you text me?" she asked.

"Wanted to," he said.

Both of them were now staring at their respective mugs, stealing glances at the other whenever they found a chance.

"Why did you answer?" he asked.

"I was…"

"Charmed?" he supplied.

She glowered at him. "Bored," she finished irritably, but then a few seconds later, she said, "…Curious."

He brought the cup up to his lips to hide his smile.

"I wanted to see you again," he said, chuckling. "Is that a cheesy thought?"

She scoffed. It was indeed extremely cheesy, but she was more shocked that he had said it so easily, without shame or embarrassment; he said it as freely and without difficulty as if he had been talking about groceries and other day-to-day trivialities –– not that he wasn't serious, but that he was so _honest_. It was strange. Secrets were woven into her very being, a foundation of her life and relationships. Even this meeting itself was a secret, and it wasn't necessarily bad, but the sincerity held a strange citrus scent she didn't think she'd taste anywhere outside T-Tower.

Raven gazed at him gravely. She liked to think herself invulnerable, but she still held scars from where a man –– a dragon –– had once made her believe he cared.

"You wanted to have sex again," she corrected, keeping her voice even and devoid of emotion.

A waitress coughed as she passed by, her face turning red.

Red laughed into his fist, but Raven was unamused. He hadn't amended her sentence.

"Would that be bad?" he admitted finally, meeting her gaze and keeping it.

Yes. No. Did she want it again, too? –– With _him_ or in general?

 _Who knows._

"You haven't turned me in yet," he stated, but the end of his voice tilted into a question.

She sipped at her tea. "No. Not yet."

When he blinked at her, surprised, she smirked, and at her mischievous grin he relaxed into the seat –– once again, it took her off guard. He was so carefree in front of her; and she though she wasn't unguarded, she wasn't particularly reserved. She didn't believe in fate, not anymore, or even eerie coincidences and signs, but this cinnamon and citrus in the atmosphere was definitely unnerving.

"How's the tea?" he asked.

"Decent," she responded. "Your coffee?"

"Shitty," he snickered, but he took another gulp anyway. "At least the company's good."

She didn't give a response, instead opting to compare his sunlit face with the one of her memories of that morning after. He caught her stare and smiled. He was risking more than a lot; he had to know. He _had_ to. Yet he was still here, no disguises, vulnerable against her memory, her unknown whims.

"Why are you here?" she blurted out.

"I told you," he said, unfazed. "Because I wanted to see you."

She eyeballed him, taking in the answer, the sincerity in his words. He was being serious.

But after a one-night-stand? All of this trust simply because of one drunken night together?

"…Why?" she probed.

"Boredom," he said, shrugging, and she frowned. Then, "Curiosity."

Raven rolled her eyes.

"Desire. Take your pick."

She didn't answer, but neither did she drop his gaze. They both sipped at their drinks, and she felt the atmosphere bubbling, the hidden laughter, the childish eagerness, the strong inquisitiveness, the twitch and warmth in his fingers.

She licked her lips, lapped up the remaining tea, and set it off to the side.

"What do you think of dragons?" she inquired.

"Overrated," he answered, and then waved the waitress over for an order of cheese bagels and oolong tea.


	5. Tempted

**A/N:** Greetings. (:

* * *

5\. Tempted

"I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed."

\- A.S. Byatt, _Possession_

"I don't know what you're trying to do," Raven said, "but it isn't going to work."

"I'm not trying to do anything at all." He shrugged his shoulders; it came off innocently natural.

"Mhmm." She wasn't buying it. He couldn't bury the roguish mischief from her — she could feel the spices heating her lungs with every breath, unable to hide beneath the cinnamon and citrus scent.

Red-X shook his head, feigning dejection. "Why doesn't anyone ever trust me?"

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're a criminal."

"Potato, tomato, baby," he grinned.

"Your tricks won't work on me," Raven said.

"Oh, really," he drawled.

" _Really_."

And then she drew a line through the X's and smirked.

"I win, X," she said, and he drew another tally beneath her name on the paper. She had won the last three tic-tac-toe games.

"Well, damn," he sighed, resting his cheek against his palm.

"So, what do I win?" she asked, a hint of smugness in her voice.

He broke off a piece of the chocolate cookie and ate it, pretending to think it over.

"Hmm… Well, you can win bragging rights," he suggested. "Or…if you'd like, you can win something else. Something better –– bigger, thicker…"

"I'm not above choking you in public."

"If you had let me finished, you would know that I was referring to the oversized, red velvet cupcake with extra cream cheese frosting in the display case on the counter." X wiggled his brows. " _But_ , I do like where your mind was going."

"Shut up," she snapped quickly, feeling the back of her neck warm and her shoulders tense.

He snickered across from her; she had to resist the urge of kicking his shin.

X folded his arms over the table and rested his head against the nook of his elbow, staring at her through glinting eyes. She brought her warm mug to her lips and kept eye contact with him, still bewildered that they were there across from each other, that they had even started a stupid children's game (but not that she had won so many times — she was, after all, the reigning champ of Tic-Tac-Toe in the tower).

"Raven," he started. "About that offer…"

"I should go," she interrupted.

He wasn't fazed. "I'll walk you to the next block," he offered.

As they passed the counter, his hand gripped her elbow gently to stop her. Even after he had let go, she could feel his fingers digging into her memory, pulling back the haziness of the night where they had been buried in darkness and sighs.

The cashier turned to them and smiled sweetly at X; he pointed to the red velvet cupcake (indeed, it was larger and creamier than how it was normally sold) and bought two. The cashier packed it into a prettily designed white box, and he turned and handed it to Raven.

She didn't accept it at first, eliciting a chuckle.

"Your prize," he said, "tic-tac-toe queen."

"Hmm."

"Come on," he insisted. "It's the second best thing I can think of."

She didn't need to ask to know what his first idea had been.

With another beat of hesitance, she accepted the box, ignoring his wide beam by obstinately heading for the exit. X had managed to catch up and push the door open from behind her; the situation was still so odd, so she didn't thank him.

The crossed to the other block and walked a few more feet until they found a space to stop, underneath the awning of a closed antique store and out of the way of the migrating herds.

"Listen," he said. "We don't have to put a label on it or anything."

Raven sighed. She had sent too many mixed signals — even she, herself, was confused. She should stop this, should tell him that she had come to say _no, no, absolutely not_ , even though he bought her tea and smiled secretly into his coffee and pretended to actually bump against her hand when reaching for the bagel at "coincidentally" the same time, even though she felt warm in the spiced smell of citrus.

She didn't know why she swallowed before speaking, but she did. "…X, I don't think we sh —"

"I'm just saying," he interrupted quickly, "that I think you're funny and I like your butt and it doesn't have to go any farther than that."

She pursed her lips at his words, suppressing the amusement and disbelief in favor of annoyance and aggravation.

"And by _it_ , I mean sex — just want to be clear in case you think this all stops at the butt compliment."

He was sincere. He was sincere and excited and his twitchy fingers were trying to keep from reaching out and grabbing her.

 _Gods…_

But this was weirder than a one-night-stand, and it would only get worse. An enemies-with-benefits was not the smartest idea.

"Just think about it," he said, "is all I'm saying."

Raven shook her head. "You're being ridiculous."

"Hey, you're here right now with me, right?" Red-X gave a lopsided grin, one that she could only roll her eyes at.

The guy was a walking migraine; she could tell. He would not be good for her, for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways.

Suddenly, she felt a shudder of electricity humming from his person.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't kiss me," she told him.

"I know, I know," he chuckled. She watched his tongue flicker out to his bottom lip — anxiously, thrilled (her or the tongue?). Then, as if he didn't trust himself, he took a step back; Raven exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"See you later, hero," X said, giving her a two-fingered salute before turning away.

The electricity lingered in the air. She blamed everything on the hormones, or maybe it was because the demon part of her, or maybe it was her human half — she blamed all of it.

Raven turned and made her way back to the tower on foot, hoping that the long walk would help her clear her mind with its monotonous repetition.

* * *

"Sooooo." Cyborg greeted her at the entrance of T-Tower, surprising her. How'd he guess that she'd walk back rather than fly or teleport? "How was your date?"

Raven almost tripped over her own feet at his words, managing at the last second to hover slightly in an attempt to save her footing inconspicuously.

"How was what?" she asked coolly, but Cyborg was more clever than his goofy personality showed. He walked beside her as they made their way up to the living space.

"Don't worry. I didn't tell the others," he reassured her. "Everyone else thought you were off drinking tea in some weird, emo cafe."

She was a little miffed at his words; the cafes she visited were _not_ weird nor emo, but considering the truth of the situation, it was probably best that they thought it.

"Why don't you?" Raven asked.

He stared at her blankly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The cellphone, Raven," he said. "I watched you type away on that thing for three days. I dunno if you noticed, Rae, but me and you have spent a lot of time on that couch."

He was right; maybe she would've realized had she not been so stupidly preoccupied with the phone. Robin and Starfire had been spending more and more time with each other, frequently disappearing for hours, and Beast Boy had bought a large collection of special edition comic books that had him locked away in his room. Normally, Raven would also be holed away with a book or meditating on the roof, but with the texting business and with half of their crew gone for most of the day, she and Cyborg had gravitated to the living room.

"…Right," she acquiesced.

"So?" he continued. "How'd it go?"

At her inability to answer or even provide a pleased smile, he immediately jumped to the worst conclusion.

"I need to whoop his ass or what, Rae?" he said. "You just say the word and — "

"It went fine, Cyborg," she interrupted. Then, as if realizing the full meaning of it all, that she went on a date with the infamous Red-X where they sipped their drinks and ate their bread and played tic-tac-toe with no repercussion, she repeated it again, quieter. "It went fine."

Cyborg straightened his lips into a thin line, not missing the strangeness of her reaction.

"And I can take care of myself," she added.

"…That's good then, right?" he remarked. "Not the part where you can take care of yourself — the date, I mean."

Was it good? Or was it the blue skies before the black storm? Was she tempting something she shouldn't be?

"I guess…" she murmured.

They stopped at the entrance of the living room. Raven was still mulling everything over — the hum of the vibration, the twitch of his smile, the buzzing against her skin — and Cyborg was still staring at her curiously.

"Well, if you don't like him, then don't see him again," he said. "It's no big deal, Rae. Don't… Don't let him force you into anything."

"I know," she said, but she chewed on the inside of her cheek uncertainly.

"You bring us something to eat?" Cyborg asked, and she looked down at the box, remembering what she carried.

"Cupcakes," she said. "There's only two."

Cyborg grinned. "One for me and one for you then," he snickered. "Sucks for the rest of 'em!"

Entering the empty living room, Cyborg hopped over the couch and started up the game. Raven went to the kitchen to make another batch of tea and grab a couple of forks. While waiting for the water to boil, the phone in her back pocket buzzed. Raven glanced at Cyborg, but he didn't seem to have noticed.

She took a discreet look at the message.

 _I had a good time._ _Thanks for coming out._

Her stomach warmed. She put the phone down, and then put it in her pocket, and then pulled it back out again.

Her fingers ghosted over an answer and sent it before she changed her mind.

 _Me too._

* * *

 **A/N:** Meep! Working on Burning Daylight for those of you that follow it (tell me why I have half of chapter 12 written but chapter 11 is gnawing on my brain?!).


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